The Adventures of River Bernair and Friends
by Spirit of the Brook
Summary: Young River Bernair is a normal twelve year old girl who lives in the suburbs of New Jersey. But when she discovers a secret about her and her motley crew of friends, will she accept it or destroy it? Follow River on her quest to find who she truly is and in the process, find out a scandal that her own mother committed. WARNING: First chapter written way before Blood of Olympus.


**A/N: Hello, beautiful children! Are you ready for a new fanfiction? I bet you are. Now, to explain some things, I wrote this WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY before Blood of Olympus came out. So, if you're thinking, "OMG, that happened in Blood of Olympus. Blah, blah, blah", please don't say what you're thinking because that would not be appreciated. But anyways, on to the fanfic of justice! This first chapter was quite long and I have no idea why. Have fun reading it all! Please review.**

**Chapter 1**

If I knew that I was going to be almost turned into roadkill by a fluffy cat then stepped on accidentally by someone that was immortal, I would not have gone on the school field trip to the zoo. Yeah, I know, zoos are kiddie trips that kindergartners go to, but I had no choice. My mom just slapped the money in my hand without even listening to where we were going.

She hadn't even volunteered to chaperone on the trip! Usually, my mom was all about field trips and was like, "Oh dear, I know I shouldn't let you go alone-"even though I was 13 and the rest of the class was going with me-"so I'm going to chaperone for this!" She's one of those smothery moms that won't let you go anywhere without them by your side.

I don't know why she's so protective, but I guessed that just some moms were like that. This was completely unlike her, not asking about what happened at school today, although I wouldn't exactly like to tell her.

You see, sometimes I just do things impulsively, such as throwing a basketball at the coach's head in PE and giving him a concussion. That was just something minor I did in the third grade. One time, I persuaded my mom I could drive and backed up the van into a tree. Yeah, not a good report to recall when you're talking to someone on the phone. "Oh, yes, my thirteen-year old just climbed into our van and a branch broke all of the windows. Do you have any insurance policies for that?"

I've done so many other little things that they're hard to count. But each time, I get in giant trouble and I don't even remember the "whys" of the situation and other times, memories blur together until suddenly, I'm sitting in a chair in front of the principal's desk and being questioned by every teacher in the whole school. Guess it's just a part of being dyslexic.

This time was no different. We were in the middle of math class and I was fiddling with my pencil about some weirdo strategies. Before I knew it, I had my finger balanced carefully on the pencil and I flicked it onto Mrs. Callan's back. Everyone is afraid of Mrs. Callan. She gives you the worst punishments, but surprisingly she didn't get mad at me. I guess she just immediately assumed that Anthony had done it.

Anthony was this jokester who was in nearly all my classes. He didn't actually pay much attention to class, but never complained about homework. I guess he made one of the nerds do it. One of them being: Veronica. Veronica was my best friend but yet a nerd. The other kids didn't know she knew so much, so they let her around.

I'm not exactly the most popular kid around, yet I do sit near the popular lunch table with all the other in-the-middle kids and with Veronica. Apparently, I wasn't classified as nerdy so I sat near the popular kids.

It's pretty weird how middle school works. You just never know what's going to happen. Hah, middle school is a piece of cake compared to the problems I have now. That afternoon, I set my bag down on my bed and sighed. It just happened to be a Friday and I counted Friday as my favorite day of the week. I got to spend time with my mom over the weekend and I got to relax (I rarely got to relax now because of all the homework piling up on weekdays).

I lay down on my bed and looked up to the ceiling. A long time ago, Mom had painted it navy blue with turquoise waves spiraling across it. In the corner nearest the start of the wall was the bare-chested Greek god, Poseidon holding a blue green trident. Mom has this strange obsession with Greek gods and she said that it just happened to start when I was born. I don't know what the heck would cause her to go crazy about some fake fairy tale. But then again, moms are always strange.

I got up off the bed and strode into the kitchen, looking for a bag of chips I had hidden under the counter. When I knelt down, I heard Mom's voice. She apparently was on the phone, so I stayed quiet. But when I got the chips from under the counter, I snuck into the office where she was standing and listened to her conversation.

She was talking to someone named Chiron, apparently and she didn't seem to babble on and on and on like she usually did on the phone. It was just the occasional "Yes," and "Uh, huh," and one time, she nodded even though the Chiron dude couldn't see her.

At one point, Mom's face went completely gray and her mouth dropped open in horror. "Already?" she whispered weakly. "But… River's too young, she…." Her voice faded away as if Chiron had started talking again.

Mom regained her composure and nodded. "Yes, Chiron," she said, once again with her strong normal phone-talking voice. "I'm sure she will." She hung up and walked out of the office.

I was in as much shock as Mom had been in. Why was Mom talking to a complete, total stranger about me? What was I not ready for, according to Mom? Who was Chiron?

I walked, dazed out of the office and for some reason, I felt myself walking over to the door that led outside of our house. Our house was pretty nice, I guess. It wasn't in the middle of nowhere, yet it wasn't in the middle of New York City. In "nerd talk", as the popular kids would classify it, we live in a suburb.

I grabbed my bike and slowly began to pedal out of the driveway. Suddenly, it hit me. I should have told Mom. She would have been worrying about me and…. Then, I remembered Mom's current state today and how she had barely said anything.

I quickly made a mental decision. I would go out on a bike ride around the neighborhood then come back and tell Mom about it. I nodded then sped up on my bike. I felt the smooth pumping of the pedals under my feet and nothing else. I didn't take the time to wave at anyone. All I did was think about how a normal Friday had turned into a weird, puzzling day.

When I finally got home, the sun was setting and the sky was darkening. I left my bike pushed up against the garage wall. The door swung open just as I was beginning to walk towards it. Mom hurried out, looking rushed and her smartphone pressed up against her ear.

I decided it was one of Mom's unimportant calls so I began to speak. "So, Mom-"I didn't get any farther than that because she held up her hand to silence me and scrambled into her Honda Civic.

She waved goodbye through the car window then backed out of the garage. I was speechless, standing there in the rays of sunlight just peeking over the horizon.

I finally turned around and raced into the house. The TV was left on, surprisingly and the lights in the kitchen were still glowing. I glanced at the refrigerator and saw a small sticky note left on it. I walked toward the door and plucked the note off of it. It read, in Mom's usual hurried handwriting: _Dinner is frozen pot pie. Make sure you read the directions. I'll be home late. –Mom_

I opened up the freezer and pulled out the pot pie. I didn't do much, just followed the directions and waited for the pot pie to heat in the microwave. I leaned back against the counter and before I knew it, I was studying the walls intensely.

I noticed a pattern in the creamish-orange paint: cloud, cloud, lightning bolt, cloud, cloud, and a lightning bolt. It continued on and on and on. It must have been something related to the Greek gods or something because it was really strange.

Suddenly, the alarm on the microwave started beeping and I walked over to the door, swinging it open. I took out the pot pie and sat down at the empty dinner table. We barely used it anymore except for special occasions. It was just something I decided to do as if to pay respects to someone at a funeral. I, being a younger kid didn't have to pay respects, but out of deliberate intentions I sometimes did try to be like the adults and pay respects. I guess it's like one of my impulsive decisions but with less of a trouble-making effect.

I glanced at the clock. It was 11:00 PM. _Geez, _I thought. _Mom must be coming home __**really **__late! _Since it was so late, I finished up my pot pie and put the bowl in the sink.

I walked toward my room and closed the door. I plopped on my bed, exhausted from the troubling events that had happened today. I read for a while then put down my book and turned out the lights. I yawned, closed my eyes, and began to drift off.

*o0o0o0o0o*

Diving under the sea being chased by a crazy talking leopard is not at the top of the list of My Best Dreams. I woke up in complete darkness and felt the rocking of a ship under my feet. The waves slapped at the hull. Then I noticed two glowing yellow eyes in the darkness. A soft, velvety purr boomed through the lower deck of the ship. Then the purr switched to a rusty growl that sounded like a leopard's. I later found out that it literally was a leopard. I reached out my hand to find where I was and felt myself touching a big, spotted wildcat's nose.

I screamed and jumped back, only to feel the board under my foot crack loudly and I took an unexpected swim. The weird thing was that I could breathe fine underwater and so could the leopard. I sank down through the depths until I reached the bottom. Looking up, I could see the leopard's eyes shining like headlights installed with rubies. _"River Bernair," _the leopard growled without opening its mouth. _"Your time has run out. You will be destroyed and trampled into dust underfoot."_

I shrugged. Not the most welcoming greeting of all time, but I've been through worse. "Unfortunately, I can't be trampled into dust soon. I've got a doctor's appointment next Thursday. Please move your date to someday else. Thank you!" The leopard roared in frustration and its spotted paw lunged out at me. Right then, the dream began to flicker and the leopard began saying weird things like, "I am a pretty, little kitty! Feed me chicken sandwiches!"

I woke up, sweating. Sunlight streamed in through the shutters covering the window and my alarm clock read 11:00 AM. I stood up, stretched, and walked out into the kitchen. The smell of rich coffee and frying bacon filled the air. Mom greeted me with a bright smile and served me breakfast on the couch. I was still shocked from my dream and all that had happened last night. Apparently, Mom had forgotten her phone call yesterday and her solitary state.

The weekend went by quickly, uninterrupted by crazy dreams or weird guys calling Mom and making her talk about me. Soon, it was Monday and time for the field trip. I got my stuff ready for the bus ride to the zoo and kissed Mom on the cheek. She said goodbye and closed the door.

I smiled and hopped in through the bus doors, sitting with my best friend other than Veronica, Dan. We had held a longtime grudge in third grade, but that was the past and now we were best friends. For a while, I just read then I started talking to some popular kid sitting in the seats in front of us. For most of the trip, everything was fine. Then about halfway into the ride, things started getting weird. I kept on seeing golden flashes of fur running alongside the bus.

I peered through the window and asked Dan if he saw anything, but he was talking to another kid and I didn't want to be rude. Then again, I saw the golden pelt bright against the road. Now, I saw pure white teeth and heard the snapping of massive jaws. I realized that what I thought was the bus's engine humming was the pounding of…..paws.

Then out of the blue, glass shattered in the next seat over and through the window climbed a furry golden body with a tufted tail. Its eyes gleamed in human-like hatred. It was a lion with the fluffiest bulletproof behind of all time.

Immediately, the lion lunged at me. I scuffled through my pockets and found a pink Calorie Free packet of sugar. _Seriously?!_ I just stared at the packet then threw it away like it was useless. I figured out later that the brave little sugar packet had saved my life. The lion was about to unleash its huge claws on me and end my life when the sugar which was still going toward the ground shot into its wide open jaws. It choked and fell to the ground, trying to find air. It let out a strangled roar then the whole bus tipped over.

Kids started screaming (as if they hadn't noticed the lion about to murder me) and teachers hurried around, falling and giving me some unwanted views from behind. Dan grabbed a pencil from his pocket and threw it at the lion. You're probably wondering how a pencil could do anything, but halfway through its fall, the pencil lengthened and sharpened itself until it was a pocketknife with a leather grip. You will realize that a normal object like that is necessary equipment for kids like me.

The bus was now completely upside down and I swear I saw a golden glint of metal at the edge of a broken window. Then, a loud creak of metal echoed through the shrieks of fear and a chariot fell through the ceiling. I'm not kidding, a literal Greek-style chariot. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to observe any longer because I felt a stinging pain in my backside and I dropped to the ground. My eyelids felt heavy all of a sudden and I blacked out.

When I regained consciousness, I felt a hard heel digging into my spine. "Ow," I mumbled. "Oh, didn't see you there, kid," a gruff female voice exclaimed and the foot left her back. "Welcome aboard the Camp Half Blood train! And just to let you know, we totally saved your butts from the Nemean Lion."

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